Voluminously swellable substance and process of making same from waxes



Patented Nov. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES VOLUMINOUSLY SWELLABLE SUBSTANCE AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME FROM WAXES Henryk Colin and Conrad Siebert, Berlin, Germany No Drawing. Application February 4, 1935, Serial No. 4,996. In Germany February 14, 1934 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a voluminously swellable substance and the process of making the same from waxes, especially wool grease.

It has already been proposed to saponify wool 5 greases with an alcoholic solution of alkali whereby said greases are decomposed into a soluble and an insoluble component. That part which is insoluble in alcohol and which consists chiefly of the high molecular alcohols of the esters conv(J tained in the wool grease has been formerly separated and utilized for the manufacture of cholesterin, isocholesterin and the like.

Th present invention is based upon the new discovery that from the alcohol soluble part ob- .5 tained when the wool grease is subjected to an alcoholic saponification can be obtained substances having valuable physical properties. The manufacture of the new substances from the alcohol soluble part obtained by the saponification of the wool grease proceeds as follows:

Waxes, for instance wool grease, are treated at room temperature with a solution of potassium hydroxide in methyl or ethyl alcohol to which petroleum ether has been added. From the saponification result two products, of which one is soluble in the alcohol and the other is insoluble in the same. This latter part is separated, for instance, by filtration. The other part is introduced into a large quantity of water whereby the swellable substance is obtained. This substance which separates from the water is extraordinarily voluminous. After it has been washed in order to be freed from water-soluble soaps and after removal of the water bound by swelling, there remains a brown, soft, wax-like substance. If

then this substance is introduced into water, its color gradually becomes whitish; it swells and within from 24 to 36 hours its volume becomes a multiple of what it was originally.

This substance is distinguished, for instance, from lanolin which, as is known, is a union of wool grease and water and arises when wool grease and water are kneaded or triturated with one another. The lanolin when being heated breaks up again into wool grease and water, the wool grease separating from the water and forming a layer floating upon the same.

The new substance behaves also essentially otherwise than wool grease.

If wool grease is introduced into water without any special mechanical action it does not take up water by itself, said grease per se having no swelling capacity.

In contradistinction thereto the substance obtained by the present improved method is swellable, that is to say, it takes up water by itself,

' even up to 900% of its own weight, that is to say,

100 grams of the water-free substance proper are able to take up by swelling up to 900 com. of I c water, that is, 900 grams.

If the new swollen substance is heated by means of a water bath or a sand bath, there are then, in contrast to the behavior of lanolin, formed not separated layers of water and of a molten substance, but the water contained in the heated bulk evaporates, and when nearly the entire amount of the water has evaporated, there remains a dark, soft and wax-like mass which is again able to take up water and to swell anew.

Example:200 grams of wool grease are melted and then strongly agitated with 850 com. of ethyl alcohol in which 50 g. of caustic potash have been dissolved, and to which 150 ccm. of petroleumether have been added. The mixture is left to itself for 48 hours. There then separates a mass containing chiefly cholesterin, isocholesterin and the like; this mass is separated by filtration. The alcoholic filtrate is poured into a comparatively large amount of water in the form of a'thin jet. The swellable substance separates during that time; it is believed to consist chiefly of waterinsoluble potassium soaps of higher fatty acids, such as cerotic acid, carnaubic acid and the like. The separated mass is repeatedly washed with relatively large amounts of water until the washing water no longer has an alkaline reaction.

The swellable substance obtained according to this invention can be used for the most varied technical purposes in that state in which it contains Water, as well as in that state in which the water has been removed from it; it may be employed especially as an emulsifying agent, and particularly when mineral, vegetable, and animal greases are worked with water. It can also be used for the manufacture of creams, ointments, cooling unguents and the like for the purpose of making cosmetic or pharmaceutical products.

When the swellable substance after having been freed from water is added to substances such as petroleum jelly or paraffin unguent etc. which are suited as bases for the manufacture of ointments and the like and which do not take up water, as said basic substances can thereby be rendered able to take up water freely.

We claim:

1. The process of making a strongly swellable substance from wool grease, which comprises saponifying the said grease at room temperature with the aid of an alcoholic solution of caustic potash containing petroleum-ether, removing from the saponifled grease the product insoluble in the alcohol, and separating from the dissolved part by means of water a water insoluble substance constituting the strongly swellable substance to be produced.

2. swellable substances as produced by the method specified in claim 1.

HENRYK COHN. CONRAD SIEBERT. 

